4th and Final Flight!

Today was the last flight of the first part of the trip.  There will be two midstream and two more at the end.  Today's was a nightmare!  Beautiful sunny morning as we left Athens at nine this morning.  We were up by five to make it on time.  This was after Elva had a night of not much sleep and I actually had none at all. My Misfit can verify that for us if you need that done.  So can the people I was texting and playing Words with in the states.  The six hour time difference meant that if I texted you at four am it was only bedtime where you are!

The first difficulty we had after George dropped us at door three was when we got to #5 and tried to get boarding passes.  My passport scanned at the kiosk but Elva's didn't so we were sent to the counter.  There Elva zipped through the process, turned over her 35 Euros for bag check and stepped aside.  My pass port wouldn't read properly.  I think that because it had scanned at the machine it thought I was already on the flight.  It took the man, they don't wear name tags at the airport, about 20 minutes to delete me completely and start over. 35euros later we headed to security.

Turns out that there are three different security areas for Aegean air.  So we found ours on the third try of course.  No problems here just my usual pat down when I am in foreign countries.At home the modern scanners look for shape, not metal.  Often my knees get me stopped.  Here it is my bionic shoulders.  Some of the ladies are more aggressive  in doing their duties than others.  Romania wins that prize!

Waiting and laughing at the pleasant come hither voice of the male announcer.

We were glad the plane linked onto the terminal once we found the right gate, it was tucked in a corner away from the others.  At least five babies got onboard!  One of the babies was in front of us and was a sweet and quiet as could be.  Mom fed her before the plane took off and as we reached cruising level she went to sleep.  The other babies were all well behaved ... except for the one across the aisle from me.  I am sure the baby was actually pretty good with just a little fussing at take off and landing.  Some young mothers don't realize that the change in pressure hurts the baby's ears.  having them sucking at the time relieves that.

From the moment we got to our seats I realized that music was playing.  The mother and child were at the opposite window.  When the people came to take that seat, which was not hers, she argued with them that she needed because she had the child and needed to rest her arm is the baby slept.  Rightfully they wanted the seat they had bought.  She really exaggerated the difficulty of moving to the aisle seat.  Once settled the music played on.  The flight attendants made their seat belt and safety demonstration.  Then as they performed the cabin check I noticed that there were five men within my view that had not fastened the belts.  One lady also.  The crew member had to reach across the music mom to help the young adult lady find her seat belt and fasten it.  The men just delayed and the flight attendant had to stand guard to watch them do it.  Then still remind them to put up the tray table and for two of the men actually do it.

The man next to Elva filmed with his two smart phones the entire taxing and take off of the plane.  But the shade down then up then down and finally took more pictures.  He did repeatedly wipe his dripping nos with his fingers and then lean forward to grip the seat back in front of him to better his view out the window.  The flight also experienced a great deal of turbulence, some even before we left the runway.  The term 'wind shear' kept entering my head!

So service on this short flight was unexpected but the sandwich tossing ladies made it down the aisle and then part way served drinks.  Once they stashed the out of control beverage cart they came and took drink orders and brought them to us.  A valiant effort but still I was very happy to have the flight ended and was not sure I would have immediately boarded another plane.  Oh, and the music lady?  She played on and even sang along.  I heard it so many times I think that now I can even sing Skip to My Lou in Greek!

We arrived on schedule at the airport in Tirana, Albania.  It is the only airport in the entire country.  We walked in the rain to the terminal and the bags were quick to arrive.  A welcome from the passport control people and out the door.  Just at the exit we saw a gentleman holding a sign that said OAT.  I spoke to him to say that we had not booked a transfer with them but could he direct me to the taxis  He quickly replied that he was the taxi driver who had been sent to meet us.  Bashkim took our bags, brought the car up and away we went.  Bashkim is very proud of his country and we had a very detailed description as we drove for about 30 minutes.  He did tell us that the whole plane regulations adherence thing was just the Albanian way!

We were surprised as we were landing at the apparent size of the city and the very urban look of it.  Elva and I agreed that we did not know just what we were expecting but certainly not the high rise buildings, the tallest of which we later learned is 20 stories under construction for a Plaza Hotel.

Our guide, Llir Hidri, was waiting for us as we entered the Lot Boutique Hotel.  It is located on a narrow, one way, alleyway behind the main street.  We got checked in and like our rooms very much.  I did not realize that Elva had signed us up as solo travelers since there was no extra charge.  The room was fine but Elva got moved to an even bigger room on the same floor with me because there was HVAC issue in hers.  She did not even know it and it did happen before she unpacked.  On this trip we won't really be unpacking but just taking out the things we use most often since hotel stays are only a few days.  Here we will be four nights.

              The minaret behind the yellow building is on the main square so it is quite a convenient location.

We decided to go out for a walk partly because neither of us slept well the night before.  High winds in Greece kept us both awake. So a little walk about was in order.  It was rainy, windy, and cold so not for long.  We bought bottled water and a couple of Cokes to take back with us.  In the short we were walking we discovered that crossing the street was dangerous.  Cars stop when you step into the street but until you do there is no indication that they will.  No one uses turn signals and cars edge out of side streets and alleyways until the flow of traffic lets them merge.  We also found that the owners of small shops do not understand English very well and do not want American  money but take Euros and no credit cards.  We also learned that walking down our narrow alleyway requires a watchful eye and quick reflexes.  The car no you may be walking but do not indicate that until they have to.  They do drive carefully.  The street is a shortcut but there are houses on it that can only be reached by this route.

The alleyway is really a one way street which takes a sharp turn in this direction just below my window.

Elva went to her room and napped, I began to write to you.  I was cold in the room and the arrows on the thermostat didn't seem to change the temperature so I asked at the desk about it.  The very nice clerk, who has relatives in Detroit, has to turn it on and then you can raise or lower it yourself.  After a while I asked Elva if we could go for another walk.  I was afraid I would fall asleep too early to  make it through the night and then be tired today.  Since it was raining even harder we walked over to the Toptani shopping Mall.  We took the elevator to the sixth floor and walked all the way around it.  It was set up similarly to the new International Market in Hawaii.  This makes it good for walking and people watching.

The top floor was entertainment in the form of a kids playground with small rides and a food court and gym.  Taking the escalator down we discovered that each floor had a certain type of merchandise.  One had sporting goods and sporting clothing stores, one for ladies wear and one for the men and another for kids things.  Of course one was home goods.  In the basement was a large grocery store that we browsed. though.  At each end of the floor was a floor to ceiling window the width of the building.  This gave good vies over different parts of the city.  We went back up to the top and got a very delicious pizza while Elva had wine and my diet soda turned out to be Pepsi Max!

Interesting architecture of the International Plaza Hotel

Ii miss my #WontonNoodleDog!

This people of this young country are very patriotic and love the Red and Black of their flag.  Even ladies high heels are displayed with one red and one black.  Not sure if you buy them that way or need to pair!

I am glad signs here are in English and Albanian. Read this one carefully and always obey!